Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for that clarification. At the moment the closest we have to a reserve force are the crimewatch committees that operate throughout the country. In some places they operate very successfully and work well with community gardaí. I was at a meeting last night and picked up a newsletter from a crimewatch unit of the Garda Síochána. It states quite bluntly that it is stuck for cash to deliver what is requested. It says that recommendations were made in 1998 on the improvements in that service but the resources have not been given to deliver on this. The newsletter had a large amount of commercial sponsorship in it. I do not think that is how such a service should be operated. Good policing needs proper resourcing and I am concerned by the proposal for a voluntary reserve force. I would not condemn the idea outright but I need to see compelling evidence from the Minister that it can work and that it has worked elsewhere.

Meetings of concerned local residents or crimewatch groups include some of the brightest and the best in the community. One also finds some of the little Himmlers who state what they want to do when they find those responsible for crime in the community. I am nervous about how the Minister will recruit these volunteers.

To that end I propose an amendment that will ensure the members will receive human rights training. I acknowledge the current training programme for the Garda Síochána in Templemore has a human rights component. I am not convinced it goes to the heart of the training of the Garda Síochána. I suspect it is a bolt-on strategy. I want to ensure that training in human rights is at the heart of what both the Garda Síochána and the reserve force would receive. The Minister has included a reference to human rights in the oath sworn by gardaí but I think this should be at the heart of the training the volunteers receive. I therefore propose amendment No. 64.

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